1974 Monaco Grand Prix
|poletime = 1:26.3 |fastestlap = 1:27.9 |fastestlapdriver = Ronnie Peterson |fastestlapnation = SWE |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 57 |winner = Ronnie Peterson |winnernation = SWE |winnerteam = |second = Jody Scheckter |secondnation = RSA-1928 |secondteam = |third = Jean-Pierre Jarier |thirdnation = FRA |thirdteam = }} The 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, also known as the XXXII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco, was the sixth round of the 1974 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged on the 26th of May at the Circuit de Monaco.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: MONACO GP, 1974', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr241.html, (Accessed 26/03/2017) The race would be remembered for a huge crash on the run to Massanet during the opening lap, which removed seven drivers from the midfield pack. Qualifying had seen s new rising star Niki Lauda claim pole, with teammate Clay Regazzoni ensuring a front row lockout for the scarlet cars. Ronnie Peterson was best of the rest for in third, while Rikky von Opel was the odd-man out, being the only driver who failed to qualify. The start of the race proved clean enough, with Lauda and Regazzoni streaking away from Peterson through Sainte Devote. Then, as the field started the charge up the hill to Massanet, Denny Hulme tried to make a move on Jean-Pierre Beltoise, only to run out of room through the Armco alley. The Kiwi duly bounced into the while trying to get back into the queue, before his spat itself off the barriers and blocked the circuit. Inspite of the number of ruined F1 cars, the race was not stopped, although the marshals struggled to move Hulme's ruined McLaren. The ensuing melee behind had also eliminated Arturo Merzario, Carlos Pace and Brian Redman, while Beltoise and Vittorio Brambilla managed to limp into the pits before being retired. Tim Schenken managed to get his car onto the harbour front before calling it a day, aiding the marshals successful attempts to get the road clear bar Hulme's car before the leaders came through Sainte Devote for a second time. The second lap proved to be far cleaner, and rather more interesting for the leaders as Jean-Pierre Jarier at least managed to challenge the Ferraris into Sainte Devote. Peterson then began to monopolise the fans' attentions by taking the , while James Hunt and Hans-Joachim Stuck battled away over sixth. The following laps saw more carnage in the midfield, starting with Stuck when he smacked into the Armco at Casino Square, breaking his thumb in the process. François Migault was next, a brake failure at the chicane seeing him fly into the catch fencing, fortunately escaping his now rather second hand BRM without issue. Then, Carlos Reutemann was eliminated after smacking into Peterson at Rascasse, although the Swede would continue on having dropped to sixth. Mike Hailwood's trip to the barriers after hitting an oil slick on lap twelve meant that there were only thirteen cars still running. Yet, on track, there was still some fighting to be done, and Peterson was making up for his mistake at Rascasse by taking Scheckter, moments before Regazzoni spun himself out of the lead at the same corner. The Swiss racer rejoined down in fifth, but his confidence had been knocked by the incident and he failed to make his way up the order. Peterson, in contrast, was now flying, and duly passed Jarier for second before hunting down the new race leader Lauda. The Austrian, however, proved far more stubborn than either Jarier or Scheckter, and so the black/gold Lotus was stuck behind the scarlet Ferrari for the time being. Behind, Scheckter managed to claim third from Jarier, while Hunt dropped out with a failure. There would be one final twist, for Lauda would suffer an engine failure as the race approached half-distance, handing the lead to Peterson. That was the last major change to the race order, with the Swede streaking away to claim a win in one of the most incident packed Grand Prix in recent memory. Scheckter and Jarier held station to complete the podium ahead of Regazzoni, while Emerson Fittipaldi and John Watson had relatively quiet afternoons to complete the point scorers. Background Given the prestige of the Monaco Grand Prix, the organisers had discretion over who could enter, let alone take part, in their biggest sporting event of the year. There were therefore only 28 entries for the fight on the city streets, with 25 grid slots on offer and no one guaranteed to make the start. The Circuit de Monaco itself, meanwhile, had been given some fresh curbs at Casino Square and Mirabeau, which were expected to punish the suspension if a driver decided to abuse the few millimetres between circuit and catastrophe. Team Lotus made the grade for the organisers, with the Norfolk squad sending Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx, albeit with a revised choice of equipment. As the Circuit de Monaco was so unlike any other track on the Formula One calendar, Colin Chapman decided that there was little point in sending their new pair of 76s, which had been struggling since their debut earlier in the season. Peterson and Ickx were therefore armed with the team's last two 72Es, one of which had been fitted with a unique engine designed to deliver more torque, at the expense of 20bhp. Ickx's usual 76 was held in reserve. brought a three car compliment to Monte Carlo, although Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler would use their 1974 spec 007s instead of the team's spare, the last of the 006s. Likewise, the squad arrived with three seats for two drivers, although neither Carlos Reutemann nor Rikky von Opel were keen to use the spare, last used by Teddy Pilette. The third, privately owned, Brabham of John Watson had also been allowed to take part, with the Brit still using the older BT42. The team arrived with five cars for their trio of drivers, with Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme once again running in "Texaco-Marlboro" colours, while Mike Hailwood went to battle in the "Yardley" livery. Championship rivals had, in contrast, reduced their compliment of cars, only bringing the three newest 312B3-74s for Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda, with hopes that a new engine design could get their F12s on a par with the venerable V8 Cosworths. The other non-Cosworth team fielded their usual trio of Frenchmen, with Jean-Pierre Beltoise getting the choice of two P210s, while Henri Pescarolo and François Migault looked set to be in the battle to qualify using the old P160Es. Also invited to the Monte Carlo bout were the two racers Jean-Pierre Jarier and Brian Redman, which had both survived the race in Belgium with only minor damage. The two s, run by Embassy Racing for Graham Hill and Guy Edwards, would also be in attendance, with Hill also bringing along the newest of their chassis. They joined the two factory s of Hans-Joachim Stuck and Vittorio Brambilla, which were steadily getting covered in sponsors and mis-matched bodywork colours. The Frank Williams Racing Cars effort was reduced to just a single car, entered for Arturo Merzario, while were allowed the take part with James Hunt at the wheel of their 308. Other single car efforts were found in the hands of Vern Schuppan, Chris Amon and Tim Schenken, representing , and respectively. There should also have been another Antipodean in the field in the form of Howden Ganley, although the Kiwi's new failed to appear despite being shipped to Europe from Japan. Victory in Belgium had launched 1972 FIA Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi to the top of the Championship standings, the Brazilian becoming the first man to deny Regazzoni the spot since the second race. Lauda also overtook his Swiss teammate, settling into second, a point behind Fittipaldi, while Regazzoni himself was three points off the lead as the field arrived in Monte Carlo. Hulme sat in fourth ahead of Beltoise, while Scheckter was the only other man to make progress after his first podium finish. Fittipaldi's victory had allowed to open out their lead in the International Cup for Manufacturers', although remained within striking distance as the field headed to Monaco. The Belgian battle had done little to suggest either of them would be challenged, with and in third and fourth and both holding ten points. slipped to fifth, while had made no progress down in seventh, once again being denied solid points by poor reliability. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying There would be three days of running before the race around the Principality, with practice/qualifying held across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All three would be staged in near-perfect conditions, with six hours of total run time allowing drivers to familiarise themselves with the Circuit de Monaco. As for a target time, the best effort on the new Monte Carlo circuit stood at 1:27.5, having been set by Jackie Stewart in 1973. Report The first session of practice on Thursday saw Niki Lauda set the pace from the start, although he would enter into a session long battle Jean-Pierre Beltoise, whose seemed perfectly at home on the city streets. At one point the two were running nose-to-tail, with Lauda throwing his around in Beltoise's mirrors, before elbowing his way by. However, the Austrian was trying way too hard in his attempts to show his superiority, and just a lap after taking the Frenchman, Lauda was climbing out of a ruined Ferrari having slammed into the wall on the harbour front. As calls were made to Maranello to get a spare car delivered to the Principality in time for Saturday, other drivers were battling against their own mechanical issues. Jochen Mass was among them, his suffering a rear wing failure, while Denny Hulme had his day ruined by a gearbox failure, leaving him standing on the curb. Brian Redman, meanwhile, was one of a number to brush the barriers, although he, like Lauda, would require some major work on his if he was to continue running for the rest of the weekend. The familiar early morning blast around Monte Carlo got underway at 8:55am on Friday, with many predicting faster times given the cooler air temperature. Once again, it was Lauda who set the pace, quickly dipping under his Thursday best in the spare Ferrari, although his supremacy was short lived, for Ronnie Peterson was also pushing on. The Swede, using the old Lotus 72 for the weekend, had been quiet on Thursday, simply trying to keep out of the wall, and was only now testing the limits of the Circuit de Monaco. His best effort of the day came to 1:26.8, which Lauda ultimately bested with a 1:26.3 at the end of the session. Behind those two would be the two s, who matched one another's times at 1:27.1, and were ahead of the second Ferrari of Clay Regazzoni. The other star from Thursday, Beltoise, had struggled all morning, although he still ended the morning in a better place than Hans-Joachim Stuck, who had suffered a catastrophic drive-shaft failure early on. That left the German in the midst of the pack trying to qualify for the race, with three drivers set to miss out once qualifying was over. Saturday was another brilliant day on the Mediterranean coast, although there was some serious business to be done on track. The fight for pole looked set to be between Lauda and Peterson after their stunning pace on Friday, with both getting under 1:27.0 early on in the final session. Yet, Peterson's pace peetered out at the 1:26.8 mark, while Lauda could only match the Swede's time, deciding to split his time between his car, and the newly arrived spare. In therefore stepped Regazzoni in the sister car, with the Swiss racer finally putting together a clean lap. 1:26.6 proved to be the fastest time of the day, putting him up alongside teammate Lauda, and forming a front row lockout for Ferrari. Peterson was left to fill the third place grid slot for Team Lotus, while his teammate Jacky Ickx barely broke through the 1:30.0 barrier, despite using a modified engine. As this was going on, there were countless reports of mechanical strife, with Ickx losing a large amount of run time after a driveshaft failure on his Lotus 72, while his new 76 lost fuel pressure. Not wanting to be out-done, Team Surtees saw Carlos Pace suffer a suspension failure, meaning he went skating along the tarmac losing bits of his car, while Jochen Mass suffered a total failure of a rear hub carrier which left his car totalled in the Armco at pit exit, prompting team boss John Surtees to dive into the harbour. Elsewhere, James Hunt had to call time on his running with a gearbox failure, Graham Hill and Tim Schenken walked back to the pits having suffered mutual failures in the tunnel, while Chris Amon was having to drive around countless issues in his self-built car, much to his own personal despair. At the lower end of the field, the fight was on to qualify for the race with several drivers threatened throughout the afternoon. Come session end, it was Guy Edwards, Henri Pescarolo and Rikky von Opel who missed out, although with two badly damaged Surtees and Amon looking very unhappy, these three still entertained hopes of making the start. It would ultimately be decided on race morning that Pace and Amon's cars had to be withdrawn, meaning Edwards and Pescarolo joined the back of the grid. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. ** Mass and Amon were doubtful as to whether they could start the race after practice/qualifying. Grid *Strike indicates a driver who did not start from their grid slot. Race Raceday began with a short warm-up run held in the morning, which resulted in an engine change for Patrick Depailler although the worked incredibly hard to get the swap done in time for the 3:30pm. The Frenchman would therefore join Guy Edwards and Henri Pescarolo on the grid, those two having been allowed to start once Chris Amon and Jochen Mass were officially withdrawn that morning. Once the formalities were out of the way the field drew away from their grid slots for the parade lap, although the race start would be aborted on their return as Depailler had dumped a near full tank of fuel all around the Principality. Report The delay lasted just long enough for the Frenchman to strap himself into the undriven Tyrrell 006 that the team held in reserve, although he would now start from the back of the grid. As he lined up alongside Pescarolo the race was finally started, with Clay Regazzoni diving into Sainte Devote ahead of teammate Niki Lauda. The rest of the field filtered through behind Jean-Pierre Jarier, who had used the absence of Depailler to launch past Ronnie Peterson. It was out of the first corner that the trouble really began, as Denny Hulme tried to move past Jean-Pierre Beltoise on the run to Massanet, only to run out of room. The two tangled wheels, before Hulme was spat into the barriers on the outside of the track, while Beltoise limped on a few yards with completely trashed suspension. Those immediately behind had little choice but to slam on the brakes, with Arturo Merzario the last of those to react. He, however, would be the victim of an unsighted Vittorio Brambilla, who smacked into the back of the with enough force to shunt his countryman into the of Brian Redman. The Brit was duly shoved straight into the back of Carlos Pace, while Jacky Ickx had his front wing bent as the Brazilian was bounced across the circuit. Indeed, the only man to pick his way through the incident would be Tim Schenken, although as he was doing so and overly ambitious Vern Schuppan rammed into him and eliminated the pair of them. Marshals quickly sprung onto the scene to drag ruined Grand Prix cars away from the racing line, with Hulme's McLaren left stranded where it had come to a rest. The ruined Shadow, Surtees and Iso-Marlboro were dragged through a gap in the barriers, while Beltoise and Brambilla had the courtesy to drag their cars back to the pits. Schenken managed to get to the harbour front before realising he had lost all of his oil, while Ickx and Schuppan managed to continue on as the melee's only survivors. The major wrecks had been cleared before the field charged through to complete lap one, with Regazzoni still leading Lauda, Jarier and Peterson. They were already clear of the next group, featuring Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, James Hunt and Mike Hailwood, before a long wait for an off colour Emerson Fittipaldi to appear, the Brazilian suffering from flu throughout the weekend. Fittipaldi himself was well ahead of the next runner Graham Hill, who led a final group including those carrying wounds from the first lap crash. Fortunately for those looking for a scrap out front, the crash had not removed any of the pretenders, with Jarier briefly challenging the s. He, however, would see his challenge put to an end by Peterson on lap three, with the Swede instantly closing onto the exhaust of Lauda to try and force his way into second. By this stage the quartet stranded on the run to Massanet were walking back to the pits, with a warm round of applause greeting the uninjured drivers upon their arrival. Yet, before the Swede managed to really launch an attack at the Austrian, Peterson managed to clip the inside barrier at Rascasse, pitching himself into a spin. Jarier was left with an easy pass, leaving Peterson to spin his Lotus back around just after Scheckter and Hailwood squeezed past. However, before the Swede could fully get his nose back around Reutemann was on the scene, and duly smacked into the Lotus' nose and bounced into the barriers. The Argentine therefore joined the ever growing list of retirements, which was dominated by accident rather than mechanical failure. Hans-Joachim Stuck had been the first of those not involved in the turn one crash to retire, the German crashing heavily at Casino Square after hitting the back of Hunt on the entry. Schuppan then pitched himself into the barriers on the cement dust laid at Massanet, which had been spread to cover the oil dumped by his earlier victim, before a nasty accident eliminated François Migault. The Frenchman was suffering from a brake problem, which had already sent him down the escape road at Sainte Devote earlier on lap six. Then, as he charged out of the tunnel the BRM's brakes failed completely, and so Migault was left with little choice than to simply slam into the catch fencing, writing off the front end of the car as a result. Fortunately he clambered out of his car unaided and walked back to the pits, moments before Hailwood copied Schuppan's crash at Massanet. Peterson, meanwhile, had managed to continue on as one of the now thirteen cars still left running after just a dozen laps. His charge back through the order had begun with a challenge on Hailwood before the Brit slithered into the barriers, leaving Scheckter as the next man in his sights. It took another six laps before the Swede elbowed the South African out of the way, just as the leading trio came to lap a lowly Pescarolo. The two Ferraris caught the Frenchman at the perfect time, blasting past the BRM down the start/finish straight before hitting the brakes for Sainte Devote. Yet, before Jarier could get by, Pescarolo decided to drift back onto the racing line, baulking his countryman and receiving a few choice hand signals, and no doubt words, from the Shadow racer as he pulled past on the run to Massanet. Peterson came charging through the first corner moments later and passed the BRM, leaving him right on the tail of a frustrated Jarier once again. The incident had also handed full control of the race to the two Ferraris, which only had to pace themselves, at least until Peterson found a way past Jarier. It was therefore a shock when Regazzoni pitched himself into a spin at Rascasse as Peterson had done on lap 21, allowing Lauda, Jarier, Peterson and Scheckter to fly past. The Swiss racer soon got his car back in the right direction a set off in pursuit, although the incident had been a rather severe knock to his confidence. Four laps later and Lauda's day was to get significantly more difficult, for Peterson had vaulted past Jarier on the brakes at Sainte Devote. The Austrian had a five second lead by this stage, but it soon became clear that the Swede would catch the back of the Ferrari. As this was going on, Hunt disappeared with an engine failure, becoming the thirteenth retirement, while Ickx was called in for a new set of tyres and a new nose. By lap thirty Peterson had glued himself to the back of Lauda, with the Austrian trying everything he knew to keep the black-gold Lotus at bay. A lap later and Lauda was stabbed in the back by his Ferrari, which had developed an ignition fault on the run out of the Mirabeau hairpin and allowed Peterson to fly past through the tunnel. The Austrian was ultimately left to roll to a stop with a total ignition failure by the Swimming Pool chicane, breaking the hearts of Ferrari fans throughout the Principality. Peterson therefore inherited a dominant lead over Scheckter, who had been fortunate to pass Jarier after the Frenchman had accidentally switched his ignition off at the chicane. The Tyrrell seemed to be getting stronger as the race wore on, and once the South African was through there was little that Jarier and the sole-surviving Shadow could do to retake the position. Regazzoni was now a distant fourth and falling away, while Fittipaldi was having to swat away a determined Watson in the old . By half distance the race was pretty much over, with Peterson creeping further ahead with every lap, while Scheckter paced himself against Jarier. Regazzoni's pace was intermittent at best, while Fittipaldi was still being harrassed by Watson in one of only two on track battles still being fought. The other was being held over ninth, with Guy Edwards and Pescarolo exchanging blows, while Graham Hill and Depailler kept themselves to themselves just ahead. These were the only ten cars still running, for Ickx had disappeared when his "special" Cosworth engine imploded on lap 34. The rest of the race would be dominated by the fight between Fittipaldi and Watson, although even that fell flat once Peterson lapped them, for the Brazilian's ego finally kicked in and pushed him to stay with his old teammate. The Edwards/Pescarolo fight then came to a stop a few laps later when the latter's gearbox failed, and with Scheckter staying tantalisingly out of reach of Jarier, the rest of the race was a procession. Peterson therefore cruised home to claim victory on lap 78, almost half a minute clear of second placed Scheckter. Jarier's pace fell apart in the final laps and dropped him twenty seconds behind the South African, although Regazzoni was too far back to take advantage to leave the Frenchman third. Fittipaldi was a lap down in fifth, and clear of sixth placed Watson, while Hill claimed a season best finish of seventh in the new , much to the delight of the British firm's bosses. Results The full results for the are outlined below: ** Depailler should have lined up in fourth, but had to swap to his spare car during the parade lap. *† Mass and Amon were not able to start the race due to mechanical problems post-qualifying. Milestones *First entry by as a constructor. *Fifth victory earned by Ronnie Peterson. * claimed their 55th triumph. **Engine partner earned their 71st win. *Jean-Pierre Jarier stood on the podium for the first time. * scored a podium spot for only the third time in their short history Standings One of the most chaotic days in F1 history ended with Emerson Fittipaldi still leading the charge in the World Championship standings, having doubled his lead to two points. Clay Regazzoni swapped places with teammate Niki Lauda to be the Brazilian's closest challenger, while Jody Scheckter climbed up to fourth after his second place finish. Victory had been enough to propel Ronnie Peterson into sixth, just behind Denny Hulme, while John Watson was on the board for the first time, albeit down in fifteenth place. had seen their advantage in the International Cup for Manufacturers drop to seven points after the Monte Carlo bout, only managing to claim a single point over their rivals. and looked more like their old selves, both climbing into the top five after mutually strong weekends, while just held on to the same status. had become the tenth constructor to score in 1974 thanks to Jean-Pierre Jarier, and were ahead of and the effort. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1974 Grands Prix Category:Monaco Grand Prix